Grenada

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Grenada fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. 🇬🇧 Kingdom of England1609

   In 1609 a party of English colonists from London tried to settle Grenada. Kalinago attacks and disease drove the survivors off within months, and the island stayed Kalinago for forty more years.

2. 🇫🇷 Kingdom of France1649 to 1654

   French settlers from Martinique landed in 1649 and fought the Kalinago for the island. By 1654 Kalinago resistance was broken, and according to tradition the last defenders leapt from the cliffs at Sauteurs.

3. 🇬🇧 Kingdom of Great Britain1762 to 1763

   In the Seven Years' War a British force took Grenada from France in 1762, and the Treaty of Paris confirmed it as British in 1763.

4. 🇫🇷 Kingdom of France1779 to 1796

   France retook Grenada in 1779 and held it until 1783. In 1795 French revolutionary agents from Guadeloupe armed Fédon's rebellion, which British troops crushed in 1796.

5. 🇺🇸 United States1983

   After Maurice Bishop was killed in October 1983, United States forces and Caribbean allies invaded Grenada, overcoming resistance from the Grenadian army and Cuban construction workers, and removed the military council in a few days.

Today

Grenada now

The indigenous Carib people inhabited Grenada when Christopher COLUMBUS landed on the island in 1498, but it remained uncolonized for more than a century. The French settled Grenada in the 17th century, established sugar estates, and imported large numbers of African slaves. Britain took the island in 1762 and vigorously expanded sugar production. In the 19th century, cacao eventually surpassed sugar as the main export crop; in the 20th century, nutmeg became the leading export.

Capital

St. George's

Government

parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy; a Commonwealth realm

Head of government

Dickon Mitchell

Head of state

Charles III

Languages

Grenadian Creole English, English

Area

344 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population117,1002023 · 77,300 in 1950
• Life expectancy75.2 years2023 · 52.7 years in 1950
• Living in cities37%2025 · 29% in 1950
• Literacy98%1970 · 68% in 1950
• Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
• War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.